"This is CZK 10 million in new funding to help film producers who are particularly hard hit by the closed cinemas during the pandemic," said Abid Raja, Minister of Culture and Gender Equality.
The compensation program will be managed by the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI), and film producers can now apply for funding for films that were in distribution between March 13 and September 30, 2020.
The most important source of income for Norwegian feature films are cinema screenings
The cinema screenings are traditionally the most important source of income for Norwegian feature films. Theatrical revenues from a single film will in many cases be decisive for the producer's business and the ability to start new projects. Producers whose films were in theaters in March 2020 have been hit by the closure of society. Theaters were opened, but with significantly reduced capacity. After the cinemas reopened despite strict restrictions, several films were made. These films will only be able to compensate for a part of the lost ticket receipts for screenings.
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We also see that there may be a need for compensation for films that were released in cinemas during a period of strict restrictions
– I am glad that thanks to this program we can help film producers affected by cinemas closed in March 2020. We also see that there may be a need for compensation for films that were released in cinemas during the period of strict capacity restrictions, ahead of the introduction of the stimulus program on October 1, 2020, says Abid Raja.
“Flight Across the Border,” “All Foreigners Have Their Curtains Closed,” “All I Am” and “They All Must Die” were just some of the films that were shown in theaters after society went into lockdown last year.
Original titles of the films mentioned in the article: “Flukten over grensen”, “Alle utlendinger har lukka gardiner”, “Alt det jeg er” and “Alle må dø”.
